Can body transfer conveyer



July 9, 1940. E. LAXQ CAN Bom TRANSFER CNVEYER Filed June 28, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1' @mi wm.

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July 9, 1940- E. LAxo CAN BODY' TRANSFER CONVEYER 2 Sheets-Sheet I2 Filed June 28, 1938 Patented July 9, 1940 l y v y UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CAN BODY TRANSFERy CONVEYEB .Ed Laxo, Riverside, Ill., assignor to Owens- Illinois Can Company. a corporation of Delaware Application June 2s, 193s, serial No. zlazas 1 claims. (c1. iss-119) The present invention relates to can making their longitudinal seams I3 (Fig. 8) in operative machinery and more particularly to a can body soldering Contact therewith. transfer conveyer by means of which can bodies The conveyer by means of which the can bodies are transferred in rapid succession from a can are received from the body-making machine (not 5 body-making machine toa c001er chain while at shown) and are drawn or moved over the solder 5 the same time they are passed over a solder roll 1'011 l2 and 1111811? .depOSited 011 the 0001er chain with their longitudinal seams in direct soldering l0, comprises a chain the discharge end of contact therewith; which is supported upon a sprocket wheel 2I The principal object of the invention is to pro- (Figs. 1 and 8). The sprocket wheel 2I'is intel0 vide a transfer conveyer of the type set forth grally formed o n a sleeve 22 mounted on a verti- 10 above which will eillciently and rapidly receive cal drive shaft 23 and secured thereto by means the can bodies from the body-making machine, of a key 2l, the sleeve being secured in position by convey the same over the solder roll properly means of a set screw 25 (Fig. 3) extending oriented for contact of the longitudinal body through the same. The drive shaft 23 is con- 15 seam therewith, while at the same time preventnected in any suitable manner to a driving source 15 ing the bodies from turning due to friction with (not shown) and is rotatably mounted medially the roll, and discharge the can bodies onto the of its ends ina bearing Zivprovided in a support cooler chain in axial alignment. 21. f

Another object of the invention is to provide a Referring now to Figs. 1 and 4, a plurality of no transfer conveyer of the character set forth above can supporting and conveying units 28 are mountm which will accommodate can bodies ofy various ed on the conveyer chain 20 atl spaced regions size without requiring substantial modification of therealong. The units 28 are in the form of the apparatus. attachment links for the conveyer chain 20 and Other objects of the invention, not at this time are designed to receive the can bodies C by direct particularly enumerated, will become apparent as impact therewith at a receiving station located at '25 the nature of the invention is better understood. or near the body-making machine. From the In the accompanying drawings: 'receiving station the bodies C. supported solely by Fig. 1 is a fragmentary top plan view showing the units 23. are passed over the solder roll I2 the discharge end of a conveyer manufactured in with the seams thereof in soldering contact with 30 accordance with the principles of the present the same and are discharged onto the cooler 30 invention in operative relation to a solder roll chain at a discharging station. and a cooler chain; Each' unit or link 28 comprises an elongated Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of one channel-shaped body portion 30 (Figs. 4 and 5) element of an ejecting mechanism employed in the horizontal opposite sides Bland 32 of which 35 connection with the invention; A straddle a portion of the chain 2l). The sides 3| 35 Fig. 3 ls a sectional view taken substantially and 32 are attached to the opposed ends of adja.. along the line 3 3 of Fig. 1; cent conveyer links at spaced points by means of Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary top plan pins 33 which, of course, are spaced apart a disvieW 0f 8 Portion 0f the Conveyer chain Showing tance equal to the center-to-center distance bean attachment link by means of which the cans tween adjacent conveyer pins. The forward pin are supported during transfer; 33 is located near the forward edge of the body 40 Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken substantially portion 30 while the other pin is consequently along the line 5 5 of Fig. 4; located in the medial regions thereof. The sides AFig.6 isafragmentary top plan view, similar to 43i and 32, together with the interconnecting Fig. 4, showing a modified form of attachment vertical portion 3l of the channel-shaped body 45 .45 link; portion 30 enclose a portion of the conveyer chain Fig. '1 is a sectional view taken substantially 20 on three sides thereof and lend stability to the along the line 1 1 of Fig. 6; and unit 28 as will appear presently. Integrally Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken substantially formed with the vertical connecting portion 34 of along the line 8 8 of Fig. 1. v the body portion 3l! is a can retaining and sup- 50 Referring now to Fig. 1 of the drawings, a porting block 35 having a. slot 3B formed in the portion of a cooler chain assembly I0 adjacent forward side thereof into which the rear circumthe receiving end thereof is shown. A solder roll ferential edges or rims of the can bodies are assembly Il includes a solder roll I2 over which adapted to extend. The portion 31 of the block i the can bodies C are adapted to be moved with 35 on the outside of the slot 36 is narrower than 55 the inner portion 38 thereof on the inside of the slot and both portions 31 and 38 are bevelled as at 39 to provide a tapered guide for guiding the rim of the can bodies C into the slot 38. A set screw 4| (Fig. 4) extending through the inner portion 38 of the block 35 opposes a recess 42 formed in the narrow portion 31 thereof. The set screw 4| is provided with a rounded end which is adapted to displace a restricted area in the can body and prevent the body from turning in the slot when the body is passed over the rotating solder roll I2.

Upon movement of the conveyer chain 2n in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1, theunits 28 are adapted to move into the path of successive can bodies at the receiving station and, by direct impact with the rims thereof, the latter are forced into the slots 38 and become wedged between the rounded end of the set screw 4| and the opposed wall of the slot. Because of the fact that a goodly portion of the channel-shaped bodyV portion 30 of the unit or link 28 surrounds three sides of the chain 20 rearwardly of the pins 33, the link 28 is not tilted out of alignment with the portion of the chain in the immediate-vicinity and on either side thereof due to impact with the can body.

In Figs. 6 and 7 a slightly modied form of can body conveying and supporting unit or link 28 is shown. The unit 28 is similar in its design to the unit 28 with the exception of the actual can engaging instrumentalities in the vicinity of the slot 36. In this form of unit the recess 42 is omitted and the rims ofthe can bodies C are adapted to be wedged against the inside surface of the outer portion 31' of the block 35' by means of a cylindrical pin 4| disposed transversely in' the inner portion 38 and held securely in place by means of locking screws 43.

Referring now to Figs.`1, 3 and 8, the sprocket wheel 2| has associated therewith means for ejecting the can bodies from the units 28 or 28' as the case may be and for depositing the same on the cooler chain I0. Toward this end, a pair of bell crank levers 50 (see also Fig. 2) each including an ejector arm I and an actuating arm 52 are fulcrumed as at 53 to diametrically opposed points on'the sprocket wheel 2| inwardly of the periphery thereof. The ejector arms 5| are adapted, upon swinging movement of the levers 50 about their fulcrums, to engage the rims of the can bodies C approaching the cooler chain I8 and forcibly eject the same from the slots 38 or 38' in the units 28 or 28' as the case may be when the latter are in the vicinity of the cooler chain immediately prior to their rounding the end of the transfer conveyer on the chain 20. Accordingly, the ejector arms 5l are normally maintained in an extended position by meansl of coil springs 54 which are secured to pins 55 formed on the sprocket wheel 2| and to attachment lugs 58 formed on the levers 50. The outer end' of each ejector arm 5| is formed with a rounded contact surface 58 designed for camming engagement'with the rims of the can" bodies (Jk during ejection of the latter from the slots 36 or 36'.

Each actuating arm 52has formed thereon near the free end thereof a boss ,60 designed for the support of a cam rollenl. A stationary angularly adjustable sleeve-'58; `tted with a bushing '48, is mounted on a reduced'extension 82 provided on the shaft 23 and is adjustably clamped in a split-sleeve 63 integrally formed at one' end of a link 84. The other end of the link 64 is slotted as at 65 and a rod 66 projects upwardly from the support 21 and extends through the slot 65.

Thus the sleeve 58 is prevented from turning on the extension 62 while the reduced end 62 of the shaft 23 is freely rotatable in the bushing 48.

A cam 18 formed on the sleeve 58 is positioned in the path of movement of the cam rollers 8| and is so oriented with respect to the conveyer and cooler chain that as the can bodies C succesively approach the cooler chain the cam rollers 6| successively travel outwardly on the stationary cam thus tilting the levers 50 about theirfulcrums on the sprocket wheel 2| and thereby actuating the ejector arms 5|. During such actuation of the ejector arms 5|, the linear rate of speed of the outer regions thereof is greater than the linear rate of speed of the can supporting units 28 and thus when the contact surfaces 59 come into engagement with the can bodies C, the rims of the same are forcibly ejected from the slots 36 and the bodies fall by gravity onto the cooler chain in axial alignment.

'I'he improved transfer conveyer will accommodate can bodies of varying lengths without modication but inv order `to accommodate extremely long can bodies it is necesary to increase the distance between adjacent attachment links 28 by substituting additional links in the conveyer chain 20. In such cases it is also necessary to substitute sprocket wheels 2| of greater diameter and having a greater number of teeth thereon together with longer cams 10. The rod and slot connection 64, 65 will permit such substitutions to be made Without further modification of the apparatus while the split sleeve 63 will permit the angular position of the cam 10 with respect to the sprocket Wheel to be altered in order to insure contact of the ejector arms 5| with the rims of the can bodies C at the proper time.

Modifications may be resorted to within the splrit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

A1. A can body supporting unit for can body transfer conveyers comprising a block adapted to be mounted on the conveyer and to move therewith and designed for impact with the forward rim portion of a can ,body issuing from a bodymaking machine, there being a slot in said block into which the rim portion of the body is adapted to extend upon impact with the block, there being a recess on one side of said slot, and a set screw extending through a portion of the block and projecting into said slot and recess whereby upon impact between the rim' and block the former is wedged between the set screw and the edges of the recess.

2. A can body transfer conveyer comprising a conveyer chain, a sprocket wheel therefor, a block mounted on the conveyer chain v,and moyable therewith, said block being designed lformixnphact with the rim portion of a can body issuing from a body-making machine, means on said block for engaging the rim portion of the can body on opposite sides of the metal from which the body is formed to frictionally retain said body suspended from the block, movable means mounted on the sprocket wheel for engaging said rim portion to forcibly eject the same from said retainingV means, and stationary cam means for actuating said ejecting means.

3. In -a can body transfer conveyer, a conveyer chain comprised of individual links hinged together, a sprocket wheel for said chain, means for driving said sprocket wheel, a can body attachment link for said chain, means on said attachment link for frictionally engaging the `rim portion of a can body to support the same. movchain at spaced points therearound for friction' ally supporting a plurality of can bodies, movable means mounted on the sprocket wheel for engaging successive bodies on the conveyer to forcibly eject the same therefrom, and stationary cam means for actuating said ejecting means..

5. In a can body transfer conveyer, a conveyer chain, a sprocket wheel therefor, means for driving said sprocket wheel, means carried by said chain at spaced points therearound for frictionally supporting a plurality of can bodies, an ejector arm pivoted to said sprocket wheel and adapted upon swinging movement relative to the wheel to engage successive can bodies on the conveyer to forcibly remove the same from their respective supporting'means, a cam roller connected to said arm, and a stationary cam positioned in the path of movement of said cam roller.

6. In a can body transfer conveyer, a conveyer chain, a sprocket wheel therefor, means for driving said` sprocket wheel, means carried by said chain at spaced points therearound for frictional- 1y supporting a plurality of can bodies, a bellcrank lever pivoted to said sprocket wheel and including an ejector arm and an actuating arm, said ejector arm being adapted to engage successive can bodies on the conveyer to forcibly eject the same therefrom, and a stationary cam positioned in the path of movement of said ejector arm.

'1. In a can body transfer conveyer, a conveyer chain, a sprocket wheel therefor, means for driving said sprocket wheel, means carried by said chain at spaced points therearound for frictionally supporting a plurality1 of can bodies, a bellcrank lever pivoted to said sprocket wheel and including an ejector arm and an actuating arm,

-said ejector arm being adapted to engage successive can bodies on the conveyer to forcibly eject the same therefrom, a stationary cam positioned in the path of movement of said ejector arm, and means adjustably clamping said cam in a fixed position.

ED LAXO. 

